Thiruvananthapuram: Frequent design and structural changes have caused unnecessary cost overruns in the construction of Arts and Crafts Village in Kovalam, originally planned modestly but later on was re-modified as Kerala’s answer to New Delhi’s legendary food and craft bazaar, Dilli Haat. Regular tweaking of the design has virtually stagnated the project.
The Union Ministry of Tourism had accorded administrative sanction for the project in December 2004. While the Centre’s share was Rs 5 crore, the state was asked to pitch in with Rs 2.20 crore. The project was proposed in the 3.68 hectares of land owned by the Harbour Engineering Department. However, there was a delay of 14 months to transfer the land for the project.
Thereafter, the work was entrusted to KITCO in 2008 on ‘deposit work’ basis and Habitat Technology Group was appointed as the architectural consultant. KITCO furnished completion certificate in March 2012 by incurring '6.96 crore. At that point, the project was nearing completion. Only the works related to construction of the front gate, compound wall and landscaping were remaining.
All of a sudden, the Tourism Department turned ambitious. In February 2013, sanction was accorded to upscale the Craft Village into an Entertainment Zone and Market Zone on the lines of the Haat for an additional Rs 7 crore, including modification to the existing buildings for Rs 67.10 lakh (under Entertainment Zone and Market Zone).
Once again the executing agency was KITCO and Habitat, the architectural consultant. However, in the revitalization project, Habitat was the executing agency as well as the consultant. The revitalization work included modification of certain changes already effected over the project completed as per the AS issued in 2004. These modifications became essential due to subsequent changes in the design proposed by Habitat. The Haat model, as it turned out, was more than what the Department could chew.
